The recent celebrity photo hacking scandal has raised plenty of questions about how to protect information that's stored in the cloud. While there's no silver bullet that will make you completely safe from hackers, there are some precautions you can take to help keep sensitive information private.

UC Professor Mark Stockman said the nature of the cloud makes it possible for anyone to be hacked.

“You’re no longer in control of your files, right? So they’re stored somewhere else. Because you have access to them anywhere, if someone has your credentials, someone else could have access to them anywhere as well,” Stockman said.

Stockman teaches classes on the cloud and cybersecurity. He explained the system as a storage server that allows the user to have access to their files on multiple devices at any time. But that could open some people up to hacking.

Stockman told WLWT News 5 most individual hacking is for financial information or revenge, but there are ways to guard against it.

“If it's just individual files, then certainly the safest place to be is on your own computer or even on an external drive that you don't have plugged into your computer,” Stockman said.

He also suggests keeping separate passwords for every profile, and even have some random passwords, and multiple security questions to identify yourself on your profile. Because, Stockman said, once the information is accessed and distributed, it’s impossible to get it back.

How to protect your data in the cloud

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Protect data online - Passwords - 1

The recent celebrity photo hacking scandal has raised plenty of questions about how to protect information that's stored in the cloud. While there's no silver bullet that will make you completely safe from hackers, there are some precautions you can take to help keep sensitive information private.

PROBLEM IN ITS I CLOUD FOR FIND MY iPHONE SERVICES. HOW SAFE IS YOUR INFORMATION WE WONDERED? CHRISTIE DAVIS LOOKS AT WHETHER THE NOTION OF CLOUD SAFETY IS REALLY JUST A PIE IN THE SKY IDEA. THE TRUTH IS, THIS IS WHAT MOST OF US THINK OF WHEN WE HEAR THE WORD CLOUD, EVEN WHEN IT COMES TO TECHNOLOGY. I KNOW THAT YOU CAN SEND INFORMATION UP TO IT AND SOMEHOW QUIT IT BACK DOWN. I HAVE THIS LIKE WAYING IDEA IT'S LIKE STORAGE SOMEWHERE UP THERE. THE CLOUD HAS COME DOWN TO EARTH SINCE NEWS BROKE OF HACKERS TARGETING CELEBRITIES, AND YES IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU. CERTAINLY ANYONE HAS THE CAPABILITY IF THEY ARE USING ANY ONLINE RESOURCES TO BE HACKED. HITTING SAVE DOESN'T SEND FILES INTO THE SKY BUT INSTEAD TO A STORAGE SERVER. WHAT THAT ENABLES US TO DO IS TO GO FROM OUR PHONE TO OUR DESKTOP COMPUTER TO OUR TABLET AND ALWAYS HAVE ACCESS TO ALL OF OUR PHOTOS AND FILES THAT WE NEED. ACCESS ANY TIME ANYWHERE TO ANY FILE YOU'VE SAVED POTENTIALLY FOR ANYONE. BECAUSE YOU HAVE ACCESS TO THEM ANYWHERE, IF SOMEONE HAS YOUR CREDENTIALS THEY COULD HAVE ACCESS TO THEM ANYWHERE AS WELL. EVEN THE UNIVERSITY HAD TO DEAL WITH A SIMILAR SITUATION INFORMATION SECURITY. JUST BECAUSE YOU PUT SOMETHING IN THE CLOUD IT REALLY DOESN'T MEAN IT WILL STAY THERE. UC FACULTY SHARES RESOURCES ALL OVER THE WORLD VIA THE CLOUD. WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY NOT TO SHARE STUDENT INFORMATION ON RESOURCES THAT ARE OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES. THE FIX FOR UC WAS A COMPANY THAT GUARANTEES SENSITIVE INFO STAYS STATESIDE. MOST OF US DON'T HAVE THE NEED OR THE MONEY FOR THAT KIND OF SECURITY. IF IT'S JUST INDIVIDUAL FILES THEN CERTAINLY THE SAFEST PLACE IS TO BE ON YOUR OWN COMPUTER OR EVEN ON EXTERNAL DRIVE THAT YOU DON'T HAVE PLUGGED INTO YOUR COMPUTER. ALSO KEEP DIFFERENT PASSWORDS FOR DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS AND AT THE VERY LEAST LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER. MY MOM IS ALWAYS TELLING ME, DON'T, YOU KNOW, PUT YOUR INFORMATION OUT THERE, BE CAREFUL. GOOD ADVICE IN A CYBER AGE. AT UC, CHRISTIE DAVIS, WLWT NEWS 5. IN THE WAKE OF THE CELEBRITY HACKING APPLE RECOMMENDS THAT ANYONE WHO USES THE I CLOUD SERVICE THAT YOU SET UP SOMETHING CALLED TWO STEP VERIFICATION GIVING YOU ENHANCED